2. The Chennai Police has decided to impose Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) at the Marina beach and surrounding areas, where agitation against the Jalikattu ban acquired the centre-stage.

According to police officials, the order, that came into force will remain effective till 12th February.

3. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has decided to set up weather stations in 660 districts of the country.

In the first phase, the IMD plans to set up the system in 130 districts which have already been short-listed.

4. Union minister Nitin Gadkari said that the Centre will invest Rs 15,000 crores to develop 1,253 km of roads in Assam into National Highways over the next few years.

Centre has already sanctioned an investment of Rs 15,000 crores for developing the existing roads as NHs.

5. The Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) has launched the climate change programme.

It is launched to conduct study to assess the status, distribution and conservation of Pheasants and Finches in Central Himalayas.

6. The Union Finance Ministry has agreed to contribute partially to a railway safety fund named as Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh in the upcoming Union Budget 2017-18.

The fund will be utilized for track improvement, bridge rehabilitation, rolling stock replacement, human resource development, improved inspection system and safety work at level crossing, among other things.

7. All India RadioCenter at Agartala celebrated 50 years of completion.

Tripura Governor Tathagata Roy has inaugurated the 2 -day long programme at All India Radio Campus.

The event was inaugurated in the presence of Union MoS for home Kiren Rijiju and chief minister Mukul Sangma near Ampati in South West Garo Hills.

11. The Union Minister for Panchayati Raj and Rural Development, Narendra Singh Tomar stated that the Ministry of Defence is set to open its Defence Unit in Morena district of Madhya Pradesh.

The unit would be set up in Kailaras and Sabalgarh tehsil areas and span over 969.735 hectare of land at a cost of Rs.1500 crore.

12. Indian government has proposed to launch an online education platform SWAYAM by leveraging information technology.

This platform will comprise of at least 350 online courses and will enable students to virtually attend the courses taught by the best faculty as well as access high quality reading resources, participate in discussion forums, take tests, and earn academic grades.

13. The government will build two more underground crude oil storages at Chandikhol in Odisha and Bikaner in Rajasthan.

14. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced two new All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Jharkhand and Gujarat as part of increasing healthcare in the country in Union Budget 2017-18.

The government has targets to eliminate Kala Azar by 2017 and Leprosy by 2018 among other diseases to be eliminated within a targeted time.

15. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu informed that the government currently has no proposals to link Aadhar number with railway passes.

The government is in the process of putting in place a Human Resources Management System (HRMS) to ensure that employees and pensioners of Railways can book tickets online through any portal.

16. To make India an innovation-driven economy, NITI Aayog, Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) together launched a mega initiative India Innovation Index.

It will rank states on Innovations through index portal that will capture data on innovation from all Indian states and regularly update it in real time.

17.Tata Motors launches a sub-brand TAMO to introduce new technology equipped vehicles faster to the market.

Under the sub-brand, it will launch vehicles that are low in volumes requiring low investment.

It is also looking at a different buying experience for TAMO vehicles.

18. On the eve of World Cancer Day, a Centre of Integrative Oncology was inaugurated in Noida.

Ajit Sharan, the secretary of the Ministry of AYUSH and Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, the secretary of the Department of Health Research at National Institute of Cancer Prevention Research (NICPR) inaugurated the facility.

This is one of the biggest biodiversity congresses in the country and its focal theme is Mainstreaming biodiversity for sustainable development.

78. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved 40,000 MW solar parks scheme for solar power development in the country.

The enhanced capacity would ensure setting up of at least 50 solar parks -each with a capacity of 500 MW and above in various parts of the country.

The solar Parks and ultra-mega solar power projects will be set up by 2019-20 with central government financial support of Rs. 8,100 crore.

79. The government approved a 900 MW Arun-III hydro power project to be set up in Sankhuwasabha district of Nepal at a cost of Rs 5,723.72 crore.

The project will offer 21.9% free power to Nepal for 25 years and generate employment of around 3000 persons in India and Nepal.

80. Punjab has ordered ban on manufacturing of food products containing tobacco or nicotine like Gutkha and Pan Masala in the state with immediate effect.

The decision has been taken in view of the orders of the Supreme Court

81. The President of India, Shree Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated an International Conference on Bharat Bodh.

The conference was organized by the Indira Gandhi National Open University and Bhartiya Shikshan Mandal in New Delhi.

The conference brings together intellectuals, academicians and researchers to unravel various aspects of the Bharat Bodh.

82. The Kerala government will launch a registry of sex offenders, the first of its kind in the country.

The registry will contain all identification details of sex offenders and would be kept in public domain.

83. DoNER, jointly with Tezpur University and North Eastern Finance Corporation Limited (NEDFi), will encourage entrepreneurship in the North-East Region (NER).

The event will take place on 3rd March, 2017 and will be the 17th edition in the series.

84. Tata Power Renewable Energy Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Power, has synchronized its 15 MW solar plant at Bellampally in Telangana.

The company has won the project in the Phase 1 bidding process in Telangana.

The solar plant has been built over 80 acres of land and includes an 18-km transmission line.

85. Rajasthan has become the second largest crude oil producer in the country.

The state was producing nearly 90 lakh tones oil annually, which is 24 per cent of the total domestic crude oil production.

86. Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi has announced the setting up of a compensation fund under Nirbhaya scheme to provide financial help to children who are victims of sexual crimes.

87. Mumbai, which is home to 46,000 millionaires and 28 billionaires, is the richest Indian city with a total wealth of $ 820 billion.

Delhi and Bengaluru is at second and third place respectively.

88. The government has framed infrastructure policy to check emerging challenges of urbanization, aims to promote living close to mass public transport corridors like metro, monorail and bus rapid transit.

The portal will be a hub of learning, interaction, opportunity, and connection.

100. According to recently published report by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IMAI) and Indian Market Research Bureau (IMRB),internet users in India are expected to be in the range of 450 to 465 million by June 2017.

101. Indian Navy successfully test-fired an anti-ship missile for the first time from an indigenously built INS Kalvari submarine.

This launch is considered as significant milestone of Indian Navy in enhancing its sub-surface warfare process.

102. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) ordered a ban on camping activities within 100 m of the Ganga in Uttarakhand.

The ban will be imposed from Kaudiyala to Rishikesh in Uttarakhand.

103. The Indian Railways has made Aadhaar number mandatory for senior citizens to avail concessions in bookingtrain tickets from 1st April, 2017.

104. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has launched four new freight sector initiatives to increase the profitability of the Indian Railways. The newly launched freight sector initiatives are:

International – Across the Globe

1. Denmark will become the first country in the world to appoint a special digital ambassador to work on building ties with the globe’s tech giants.

The purpose of the appointment is, to be on the forefront of technological development and the political and ethical issues that come with it, and to make Denmark more attractive for investment.

2. The 53rd SAARC Programming Committee meeting has took place in Kathmandu on 1st February 2017.

The meeting discussed budget management for the operation of the Kathmandu-based SAARC Secretariat on 1st and 2nd February.

3. Ireland has voted to be the world’s first country to fully divest public money from fossil fuels.

The Irish Parliament passed the historic legislation in a 90 to 53 vote in favor of dropping coal, oil, and gas investments from the 8bn Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, part of the Republic’s National Treasury Management Agency.

4. A legislation has been introduced in the US House of Representatives which doubles the minimum salaryof H-1B visa holders to $130,000.

The legislation making it difficult for firms to use the programme to replace American employees with foreign workers, including from India.

5. Kuwait has suspended the issuance of visas for nationals of Syria, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran.

The Kuwaiti government has told would-be migrants from the five banned nations to not apply for visas, as it is worried about the possible migration of radical Islamic terrorists.

6. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the Petersburg International Economic Forum in Russia, scheduled from 1st – 3rd June 2017, as the Guest of Honour.

The forum witnesses more than 4,000 people from over 60 different countries every year.

It brings together the chief executives of major Russian and international companies, heads of state, political leaders, prime ministers, deputy prime ministers, departmental ministers, and governors.

7. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and about 1,000 of his colleagues have donated over USD 1.5 million to a leading rights group.

The group has pledged to fight President Donald Trump’s temporary ban on refugees and immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries.

8. China plans to sell its new short range missiles AR-2 to foreign countries.

AR-2 is a short-range air-to-surface missile with a weight of about 20 kg and a 5-kg warhead, an AR-2 has a maximum range of 8 km and a top speed of 735 km per hour.

9. The Right to Information (RTI) Act came into force in Sri Lanka.

A piece of legislation aimed at restoring transparency and good governance in a country that has been plagued by corruption and misrule.

10. India and Norway have founded a Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to accelerate life-saving research and development for epidemics.

An R&D blueprint for action to prevent epidemics will be prepared to develop a research and development blueprint during epidemics.

11. Qatar Airways launched the world’s longest scheduled commercial service with its inaugural flight from Doha to Auckland.

Flight QR920 left the Qatari capital landed in New Zealand.

The Boeing 777 flight will take 16 hours and 20 minutes, pass over 10 time zones, five countries and travel 14,535 km before reaching Auckland.

12. In an effort to strengthen the bilateral relations between India and UAE, the Indian Coast Guard Ship (ICGS) Samudra Pavak made a goodwill visit at the Mina Al Rashid (Dubai Port).

The Indian Ambassador in UAE Navdeep Suri visited the Indian Navy ship.

13. The 17th Session of BIMSTEC Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) has concluded in Kathmandu, with an understanding to host the summit meeting by the end of 2017.

Sharif has made it clear that the Punjab government won’t allow such festivals which endanger people’s lives.

17. Nepal government said that free wifi zones would be set up on the LuklaEverest Base Camp and the Annapurna Base Camp.

This will be done to promote tourism and provide easy flow of information during disasters.

18. The Israeli Embassy said that the Delhi government has decided to employ Israeli technology to clean the Yamuna river for a cleaner environment and water.

Ayala Water and Ecology Ltd. will focus on a stretch of eight km of sewage which drains into Yamuna River.

19. China has released the theme and the cooperation priorities of the 2017 BRICS Summit which is scheduled to begin in September in Xiamen.

The theme for 2017 BRICS Summit is BRICS:Stronger Partnership for a Brighter Future.

It will also feature five key priorities such as deepening cooperation, strengthening global governance, carrying out people-to-people exchanges, making institutional improvements and building broader partnerships.

20. India remains near the bottom in an International Intellectual Property (IP)Index by being ranked 43rd out of 45 countries.

The report is published by S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Intellectual Property Center (GIPC).

21. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Germany’s former foreign minister, has been elected as the country’s new president.

Martin Schulz, former president of European Parliament is appointed as new leader of social Democrats.

22. The longest elevated bike path named the winding viaduct in the world has been opened in a city in south-east China.

The route can carry 2,023 cyclists per hour, while 300 hire bikes are available for people who do not have bicycles.

23. The 2017 UNESCO Natural Heritage Festival was held at Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP) in Sairopa, Himachal Pradesh.

The fest was held in collaboration with the Wildlife Institute of India (WII).

24. Military Exercise Cobra Gold 2017 Begins in Thailand on 14th February 2017.

It is the 36th edition of the multinational military exercise.

Around 30 nations will take part in the exercise that will continue till 24th February 2017.

25. India is among six nations participating in a conference on Afghanistan’s future in Moscow.

India and particularly Afghanistan objected to being cut out of the discussion.

26. India has sanctioned a soft loan of 340 million US dollars to Nepal for various infrastructure development programmes.

Under this programme Mahalaki bridge and 15 roads will be constructed in various parts of Nepal.

27. India was the world’s largest importer of major arms between 2012–16, accounting for 13 per cent of the global total sales, according to a new data released by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

Saudi Arabia was the world’s second largest arms importer in 2012-16.

The United States of America is the leading arms exporter in the world with almost half of its arms exports going to the Middle East.

28. Russia will start initial deliveries of military helicopters to India in 2018.

India and Russia signed an agreement to jointly manufacture 200 of the KA-226T helicopters for the Indian Armed Forces.

Both countries have agreed to cooperate in energy and defence as India seeks to modernize its armed forces.

29. Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Sydney on the first visit to Australia by a serving Israeli prime minister.

Netanyahu will start his four-day visit with talks with his Australian counterpart MalcolmTurnbull at his official Sydney address.

Netanyahu and Turnbull will sign agreements on technology and air services.

30. India and China will hold their first Strategic Dialogue in Beijing.

During the meeting, the two sides will discuss key issues of mutual concern and interest, including friction points.

31. Mexico City has the worst daily traffic condition in the world for the second consecutive year and is the most congested city.

The research analyzed the traffic congestion situation in 390 cities in 48 countries.

The research has listed other cities, including Bangkok, Jakarta and Bucharest as the most congested cities in the world.

32. The US and China have agreed on a constructive bilateral relationship to address the threat posed by North Korea due to its repeated ballistic missile tests despite a UN ban.

The two sides agreed on the need to address the threat that North Korea poses to regional stability.

33. The WTO’s trade facilitation agreement, which seeks to ease customs norms, has come into effect with its two-thirds members ratifying the pact.

It will give a boost to the global trade, which has been impacted due to slowdown in the world economy.

34. US President Donald Trump’s administration rolled back Obama’s protection law for transgender students.

The law allowed students to use the bathroom and locker room of their choice in public schools.

35. India has approved a deal with Israel to develop jointly a medium rangesurface-to-air missile (MR-SAM) system for the Army in a Rs17,000-crore deal.

The deal will be executed by the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI).

The systems will be manufactured in India and would have an 80% indigenous content.

36. China for the first time became Germany’s most important trading partner in 2016.

Federal Statistics Office figures showed that German imports from and exports to China rose to 170 billion euros ($180 billion) last year.

37. Pakistan army has launched nationwide military operation ‘Radd-ul-Fasaad’.

The aim is to eliminate terrorists and consolidate gains of its counter-terrorism operations.

38. The world’s first robot table tennis tutor in Japan has set a new Guinness World Record for its uncanny ability of being able to play the game better than most humans.

The robot is named FORPHEUS (Future Omron Robotics Technology for Exploring Possibility of Harmonized automation with Sinic Theoretics).

39. India and Ukraine have agreed to strengthen the bilateral cooperation between the two countries through the medium of Cinema in New Delhi.

The cooperation would be helpful to showcase films through the medium of Film Festivals.

40. India and Israel are planning to hold a series of events to celebrate 25 years of establishment of their diplomatic ties.

India had established full diplomatic relationship with Israel in 1992 though it had recognized the country in 1950.

41. European Union member states have approved visa-free travel for Georgia. The proposal now requires formal signature by the 28 member states of EU and the European Parliament.

42. Russia and China have vetoed a UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution that aimed to impose sanctions on Syria over chemical weapons use.

43. South Korea and United States held large-scale joint military exercise called Foal Eagle.

The exercise was held to test their defence readiness against the threat from North Korea.

44. China has announced that it will cut five lakh jobs from steel, coal and other heavy industries.

This will be done to reduce excess production capacity amid slowdown of its economy which is world’s second largest.

45. Australia will offer the world’s first university course to train intelligence analysts to fight cybercrime.

The course will be prompted by innovative methods of money transfer among organised crime and militant groups.

46. By 2050, India will be the country with the world’s largest Muslim population.

There were 1.6 billion Muslims in the world as of 2010 – roughly 23% of the global population.

Currently, Indonesia has the world’s largest Muslim population.

47. Malaysia will cancel visa-free entry for North Koreans entering the country from 6th March 2017.

North Koreans will be required to obtain a visa before entering Malaysia for national security reasons.

48. The General Staff of the Syrian Army had recaptured the ancient city of Palmyra from the extremist group Islamic State (IS).

The units led by Iranian and Russian Troops entered the city three months after IS took it over.

49. The Nepal Investment Summit 2017 concluded in Kathmandu.

The objective of the two-day long summit was to project Nepal as an attractive investment destination.

Mohammad Nabi became the first player from Afghanistan to be picked by Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs.30 lakhs.

Rashid Khan was signed by Mumbai Indians for an amount of Rs.4 Crores.

27. Virat Kohli became the first Indian sportsperson to sign a Rs.100 crore deal with Puma.

He is now set to join the likes of Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell and Thierry Henry, among others, as a global ambassador for the brand.

28. India defeated South Africa by one run to win the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier 2017 at the P. Sara Stadium, Sri Lanka.

South Africa’s Sune Luus is named as the Player of the Series.

India’s Deepti Sharma is the Player of the Match.

29. India’s one day captain Mithali Raj and top batter Harmanpreet Kaur were placed 2nd and 10th in the ICC batswomen’s rankings.

Meg Lanning of Australia leads the charts with 804 points.

Mithali Raj has 733 points and Harmanpreet has 574 points.

30. The first Gramin Khel Mahotsav will be held from 25th to 31st of next month in New Delhi.

The games will be held in five sports disciplines Athletics, Kabaddi, Kho-Kho, Volley Ball and Wrestling.

It aims to promote sports in rural areas across the country.

31. International Hockey Federation (FIH) awarded the winners Hockey Stars Awards 2016. Here is the list of some of them.

Male Player of the Year 2016- John-John Dohmen (Belgium).

Female Player of the Year 2016- Naomi van As (Netherland).

Male Coach of Year 2016- Danny Kerry (Britain).

Female Coach of Year 2016- Karen Brown (Britain).

Male Umpire of the Year award 2016- Christian Blasch (Germany).

Female Umpire of the Year award 2016- Laurine Delforge (Belgium).

32.The famous Army Polo Championship that commenced on 31 Jan 2017 saw a thrilling final match on 24th February 2017 between 61 CAVALRY and Army Service Corps after tough round of league matches which also saw participation from Corps of Artillery, Remount and Veterinary Corps and Armored Corps.

Army has dominated Equestrian Sports for a long time producing a large number of Asian Games medalists, World Cup players, Padam Shree and Arjuna awardees and is pursuing it as part of its Mission Olympics programme.

33. Ace Indian shuttler PV Sindhu, who is the first Indian woman athlete has accepted a government job which was offered by the Andhra Pradesh Government following her Rio de Janeiro triumph.

She has been working with Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) since 2013 and is currently an assistant manager (sports) at its Hyderabad office.

25. Jawaharlal Nehru University has won the annual Visitor’s Award for the Best University 2017.

Deepak Pant from Central University of Himachal Pradesh won the Visitor’s Award for ‘Innovation’.

26. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has entered the Limca Book of World Records for erecting 200 U-shaped girders in a month.

27. Former US President Barack Obama has been named as the winner of the 2017 John F. Kennedy ‘Profile in Courage’

He has been honored for his enduring commitment to democratic ideals and elevating the standard of political courage in a new century.

28. The Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar presented the Raksha Mantri’s Trophy and Citation for the best Service Hospital in the Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) for the year 2016 to INHS Asvini, Mumbai.

Commandant of INHS Asvini Mumbai, Surgeon Rear Admiral Ravi Kalra received the awards from the Minister on behalf of the Hospital.

29. Sri Lanka won the Most Popular Tourism Destination Award at the Guangzhou International Travel Fair (GITF) in China.

The island nation won the prestigious award for the second consecutive year.

China has been Sri Lanka’s second largest source market for tourism since 2014.

[glyphicon type=”play”] The survey projects the economy to grow in the range of 6.75% to 7.25% in fiscal year 2017-18 in the post-demonetization year.

3. Income Tax Department (ITD) has initiated Operation Clean Money.

Initial phase of the operation involves e-verification of large cash deposits made during 9th November to 30th December 2016.

4. Mumbai based lender State Bank of India wants to increase its stake to at least 51% from 40% in GE Capital Business Process Management Services, and to 74% from 60% in SBI Cards and Payments, which markets and distribute credit cards.

The move is in line due to demonetization as it increasingly drives consumers to spend online or through cards.

10. Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that digital transactions had risen to 3 crores a day in 2016 from only 66 lakhs a day in 2013.

He exhorted entrepreneurs to develop more technologies for education and social inclusion.

11. The Reserve Bank will soon put into circulation new 100 banknotes which will be like the design of the ones in Mahatma Gandhi Series-2005.

It will bear the signature of Dr. Urjit R Patel, Governor, Reserve Bank of India.

All the banknotes in the denomination of Rs.100 issued by the Bank in the past will continue to be legal tender.

12. Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das expressed confidence that the economy will grow upwards of 7 per cent next fiscal.

He said there will be transient impact of demonetization on the economy, but it will not spill over to the next fiscal.

13. The UK’s CDC Group-backed Ujjivan Small Finance Bank is going to open its first set of branches for public transaction.

The bank will start rolling out branch network across India from next fiscal.

Ujjivan Managing Director Samit Ghosh said that the bank will test all the technical and connectivity issues over the next one month as a preparation before going full throttle.

14. Industry body Assocham has said that Reserve Bank of India should cut interest rate 75 per cent in view of dismal credit growth as well as subdued demand.

RBI Monetary Policy Committee will meet on 7th-8th February for next bimonthly credit policy.

Assocham has impressed upon the central bank and the Finance Ministry to ensure adequate transmission of cuts in the interest rates.

15. The 2017 Brand Finance Banking 500 report said that for the first time, a nonwestern brand tops the ranking.

Chinese banks brand value growth has been rapidly outpacing that of European and North American competitors.

The world’s biggest bank by assets, ICBC’s brand value has grown 32% year on year to a total of $47.8 billion.

Three Indian banks- SBI, HDFC Bank and ICICI are in hundred most valuable banks, ranked 51st,74th and 86th respectively.

16. The tax department will withhold refund in scrutiny cases only in exceptional circumstances from next financial year.

To, address the concerns of assesses in genuine cases, the Finance Bill 2017 has relaxed the norms for refunds for scrutiny cases.

CBDT Chairman Sushil Chandra said that Income Tax refund will not be withheld simply because the case has been selected for scrutiny.

17. The Reserve Bank of India will remove limits on cash withdrawals from saving bank accounts in two phases since it expects cash supply to improve by next month.

In the first phase, the withdrawal limit will be raised to Rs 50,000 from Rs 24,000 a week.

The limits on cash withdrawals from savings bank account will be withdrawn completely from 13th March.

At present, there is no limit on current account and there is a cap of Rs 50,000 for farmers a week and Rs.2.5 lakh for marriage.

18. RBI Governor Urjit Patel cut the economic growth forecast to 6.9 per cent for the current fiscal from 7.1 per cent.

The Reserve Bank kept key interest rates unchanged.

Growth is expected to recover sharply in 2017-18 on account of several factors.

19. The highlights of the sixth bi-monthly monetary policy announced by RBI.

Policy repo rate unchanged at 6.25%.

Reverse Repo rate at 5.75%.

Cash Reserve ratio at 4%.

Statutory Liquidity Ratio at 20.50%.

Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate at 6.75%.

Bank Rate at 6.75%.

Inflation projected in the range of 4—4.5% in the first half of 2017—18 and 4.5—5% in the second half.

20. The government raised Rs 6,700 crore through sale of 2 per cent stake in tobacco-to-FMCG firm ITC, held through Specified Undertaking of the Unit Trust of India (SUUTI).

The transaction took place through block deals with Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC).

SUUTI, which was created to take over part of the assets and liabilities of the now-defunct Unit Trust of India, held 11.17 per cent stake in ITC.

21. Global analyst firm Gartner said that IT spends by domestic banks and securities firms will grow nearly 10 per cent to USD 8.9 billion in 2017.  This includes total enterprise IT spending for internal spending and spending data on data center systems, devices, software, IT services and telecom services.

The spends on IT services will grow at a faster clip of 13.8 per cent, as the companies invest more in business processes.

It is the world’s first interoperable Quick Response (QR) code acceptance solution developed by the payments industry to expedite India’s transition to a less-cash society.

38. The GST Council approved a bill to compensate States for any loss of revenue due to the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

This approval by the GST Council paves the way for the roll out of the GST on 1st July 2017.

39. Reserve Bank of India has said that it has no information about the number of bank accounts with large deposits after 8th November 2016.

These are the bank accounts in which more than Rs. 2.5 lakh in the scrapped currency notes of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 were deposited between November 8 and December 30 last year.

40. Debt mutual funds can now invest up to 15 per cent of their total net assets in housing finance companies with Security and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) easing the regulations in this regard.

The norms have been relaxed as part of efforts to channelize more funds towards affordable housing activities.

41. Vodafone has offered Private Recharge Mode (PRM)- a free of cost service for West Bengal subscribers.

This will enable users to recharge their mobile phones, without sharing their mobile numbers with retailers.

To avail the Vodafone PRM option, a customer needs to send a toll-free SMS – ‘Private’ – to 12604 and would be provided with an OTP.

42. International Monetary Fund said that India’s GDP projected to slow to 6.6% due to demonetization.

This slowdown is largely due to a disruption in private consumption from demonetisation.

It expects growth to rebound to 7.2 per cent in FY18.

43. India and the ADB has signed a $500 million loan pact to expand inter-regional power connectivity in the country, and strengthen transmission system to accommodate renewable energy-generation capacity.

The project is expected to be completed by December 2020.

This will help in building 800 kilovolt (kV) and 320 kV High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) converter stations and 765 kV power transmission systems in India.

44. The merger of State Bank of India’s five associate banks with the SBI will become effective from 1st April 2017.

The combined entity will have a network of nearly 23,000 branches, further increasing the dominance of the country’s largest bank.

45. Sovereign Gold Bonds 2016-17 fourth series will be open for subscription from February 27, 2017 to March 03, 2017.

The bonds will be denominated in units of one gram of gold and multiples thereof and be available in both the demat and paper form.

Minimum investment in the bonds shall be one gram with a maximum limit of subscription of five hundred grams per person per fiscal year.

46. Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) will take control of Hindustan Petroleum Corp (HPCL) to create an integrated public sector oil entity.

The government of India will transfer its majority shareholding (of 51.11 percent in HPCL) to ONGC.

Bills – New & Amendments

1. The Union Cabinet had approved the amendments in the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 to modify the list of SC in Odisha.

It also approved amending the Constitution (Pondicherry) SC Order, 1964 to change the name of the Union territory to Puducherry from Pondicherry.

In this regard, The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Orders (Amendment) Bill, 2017, incorporating the above changes, to be introduced in the parliament.

2. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday introduced a Bill on demonetization in the Lok Sabha to formally make the banning of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes a law.

The bill seeks to replace the ordinance on demonetization promulgated by the government in December 2016.

The Specified Bank Notes (Cessation of Liabilities) Bill states holding, transfer and receiving of the recalled Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes will amount to a criminal offence punishable with a minimum fine of Rs. 10,000.

3. The Lok Sabha has passed the Payment of Wages (Amendment) Bill, 2017.

The Bill was passed to enable employers to pay wages to workers through cheque or directly crediting to their accounts.

The bill will replace the Ordinance promulgated by the President in December 2016 to amend the Payment of Wages Act, 1936.

The Bill was passed to allow kambala, the traditional buffalo race and bullock-cart racing.

The Bill seeks to exempt kambala and bullock-cart racing from the ambit of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act, 1960.

6. Tata Motors has signed Strategic Technological Agreement with Microsoft.

The agreement was signed to collaborate on the technology front for making driving a more personalized experience for the customers.

As per the agreement, Microsoft will make use of its IoT (internet of things), AI (artificial intelligence) and machine learning technologies to develop a highly personalized, smart vehicle for the customers.

7. The Gujarat Assembly has passed Gujarat Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Bill, 2017.

The bill seeks to empower the state government to use Aadhaar number as the sole identifier for the delivery of various subsidies and benefits in an effective and targeted manner.

This will help the state government create a credible system to authenticate the identity of actual beneficiaries.

8. Jammu & Kashmir government has imposed restrictions on the number of guests at weddings and small functions like social and government functions.

This is done to curb misuse of resources and essential commodities.

The order that will come into force on 1st April 2017 restricts the number of guests at the bride’s place during the marriage ceremony to 500.

The number of guests at the groom’s place is restricted to 400 and the number of guests at smaller functions like engagement among others has been restricted to 100.

9. The State Legislative Assembly has passed the West Bengal Clinical Establishments (Registration, Regulation and Transparency) Bill, 2017, by a voice vote.

It aims to overhaul private healthcare in state and take stringent measures against health institutions accused of medical negligence and corrupt practices.

Mansfield, along with Paul Lauterbur, had won the 2003 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for developing Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). ü He also served as a professor at the University of Nottingham.

7. Veteran journalist T.V. Parasuram, who served for long as the Washington correspondent of the Indian Express, died on in Maryland. He was 93.

Parasuram, who won a Harvard Niemen Fellow in journalism, was known to take shorthand notes at 170 words per minute and would type almost as fast in the typewriter era.

8. Former Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir passes away in Kolkata. He was 68.

He was appointed as a judge in the Calcutta High Court in 1990, Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court in March 2005 and 39th Chief Justice of India in 2012.

9. Kaci Kullmann, the chairwoman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee which selects the Peace Prize laureates, has died aged 65.

Kullmann became a member of the Norwegian Nobel committee in 2003, and was elected chair in 2015.

10. The youngest ever Nobel-winning economist and mathematician Kenneth J Arrow has died. He was 95.

He won Nobel prize in 1972 for his theories on risk, innovation and the basic mathematics of markets.

11. Hollywood actor Bill Paxton has died at the age of 61.

He is best known for his roles in blockbusters such as “Apollo 13″ and “Titanic,”.

12. Neil Fingleton, a 7-foot 7-inch actor who played the giant, Mag the Mighty, in “Game of Thrones” has died at 36 due to heart failure.

Fingleton was recognized by Guinness World Records in 2007 as the U.K.’s tallest man.

13. Former Union Minister Shiv Shankar passed away after a prolonged illness. He was 89.

Shiv Shankar served as External Affairs and Human Resource Development Minister.

14. Veteran Manipuri politician and former Member of Parliament Yumnam Yaima Singh passed away in Imphal after a brief illness. He was 95.

He was a brilliant writer and had written a book titled “A Piece of Tenth Lok Sabha”.

15. Popular Gujarati writer, columnist, playwright and humorist Tarak Mehta died in Ahmedabad.

He had been suffering from an illness for the last three-four months. Mehta was 87.

He translated and adapted several comedies into Gujarati, and many of his writings have inspired plays.

16. French football legend Raymond Kopa passed away in Paris after a long illness.

He was one of France’s most admired sportsmen who had won the European Cup three times with Real Madrid in the 1950s.